Icy

Still cold but not as frigid as it has been. It was lovely to see the sun today especially for those who swim the open water of the Kennebec river. Large segments of the river are jammed with ice but the open water near our local boat landing attracts ducks, mergansers, gulls and eagles • MrsP and I watched this mallard couple warming themselves in the afternoon sun before slipping away into the water to join up with a larger group downriver • A bit of excitement last night around 8pm. It felt colder in the house than it should so I checked the thermostat. It was set on 68F but read 64F. The furnace wasn’t running but a number and a wrench were flashing on the panel. I made a call into the Natural Gas Company’s answering service and someone called back within a few minutes. The on-call service guy was calm and very pleasant to work with, so I asked if he could walk me through resetting the furnace to avoid having him come out to the house. It took about a half hour but it all worked out! A technician will stop in early next week to do a service call. Whew!! • Have a peaceful and enjoyable weekend!